The Garden Post Independence County Master Gardeners University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Editor, Nelson Barnett Editor Emeritus, Marie Fowler March, 2018 Volume XXIII Issue 3

I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth? ~Edward Giobbi

Spring Gardening Chores

Independence County MG Meeting Thursday, March 8th, ExOff, 1720 Meyers by Sharon R Clark 1. Pruning Business Meeting 10 am You should walk your vegetable and flower Tour of Local Projects following gardens to see what should be done and prune out ************************ any dead wood on any trees. By now most everthing shows some sign of budding so if you Greene County Master Gardeners have some that are not showing any sign of growth 2018 Spring Gardening Seminar cut them off back to live wood. This applies to all your plants. Then you can concider the form or size Go Native: Native Flora for Native Fauna of your plants. Paragould Community Center, 3404 Linwood Drive Your plants that are blooming now or will in Paragould, AR 72450 the next month hold off on pruning other than dead 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, March 16, 2018 wood untill after they bloom as you do not want to Registration 9:30-10:00 am cut off your flowers. Azaleas will be blooming soon so after they bloom, shape them then. Registration Deadline is March 9th Your fruit trees and vines should always be Purpose: to promote awareness of the use of plant pruned now or soon because they make better choices, horticultural practices and garden designs that fruit. Cut back unwanted or crossing limbs to the work with nature and have a positive environmental point that they connect to the main schfolled then impact. shorten the remaining limbs back to a bud that (Nelson will take his car if anyone else wants to go) grows in the direction that you want. Some said

1 Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke said that a cat should be able to walk a limb without scratching its back. Blackberries are an Peonies exception to this rule. by Rita Clark

Roses should be pruned to remove all My grandmother loved deadwood back to its origen, Then prune to open peonies and grew beautiful ones. Each up the middle of the plant so sunshine can get into time I visited her she the middle. Then look carefully at the plant and took me to her peony shorten all limbs back to an outward bud about bushes and had me smell them. Then she knee high. This also applies to budliea. Grasses would pick a bouquet should be cut back to 2 or 3 inches or new growth. for me. She made me fall in love with them. 2. Planting seeds I lived in Michigan for awhile and could have started a bush, but I never stayed in one location long Gather your materials such as sterile enough. Then my sister moved into a house with a big planting soil, seeds, warm water. Moisten your soil peony bush in her yard. It was beautiful that first until it is wet but not dripping wet. Consult your year. Then she noticed ants on the flowers. She sprayed and sprayed until every ant was gone. She was seed packet for depth and light requirements. so proud of herself...until...the bush quit blooming. That Some seeds need to be planted ¼ to ½ deep and was the end of her peonies. She figured out later that some need to be planted on top but your seed the ants were pollinating the flowers. packet will give you this information. Plant your When I settled in Florida, I was ready to plant my own seed as required and place them into a water proof peony bush. Mom quickly squashed my plans when she told me they would not grow in Florida because it did not tray and place them in a warm dark spot. Keep the get cold enough. I settled for some tropical flowers. soil moist by watering the tray. As soon as you see Three years ago when we moved to Arkansas, I knew I the first cotyledons place the tray and all in the had a good chance to grow peonies. Cathy gave me a brightest light you have. Add fertilizer at ½ root for Mother’s Day. I planted it and nothing hap- strength to your water and keep watering when pened. I asked the Master Gardeners if anyone had an extra peony plant. Don Lemley said he would bring one needed from the bottom (tray). You shouldn‘t to the next meeting along with some forsythia plants that water your plants from the top as this can cause I also was pinning. The forsythia flourished and the peo- damping off. ny never came up.

3. Mulching This summer Cathy and I took a road trip to visit relatives in Indiana. Can you imagine my delight when Marsha Rake up leaves and debrie from your flower showed us a row of peonies that she had chopped to the ground because she did not want them? I was beyond beds and apply enough new mulch for a 3 inch excited. We dug them up and brought them home. I layer being careful to not smother your plants. carefully planted them along our property border. I put One way to do this is cover your plant with a flower PVC pipe around them so they would not be mowed down. The very first lawn cutting was right over a peony pot, put down the mulch, remove the flower pot that had lost its PVC covering. Good Grief! The next and carefully spread the mulch closer to your plant. week I was watering the peonies and a fence post was on top of one of them. These are the things I try to do on pretty days in Starting peonies is not easy. the late winter or early spring so that I can really I am anxiously waiting for spring to see enjoy my gardens for the rest of the year. Happy if any of the roots produce my long planting!! awaited peonies. Sharon Rita

2 Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. ~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You

From The Good Earth Center in Little Rock

 Visit your garden center! Now is a great time to shop for new and exciting plants; be sure to use Good Earth brand Jump Start at planting for best plant establishment.  This is a good time to plant cool season vegetable gar- den with broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, onion, potato and spinach. Herbs parsley and cilantro also like these cooler temperatures.  Trim the old growth off evergreen groundcovers like liriope and mondo grass before the new growth gets too tall.  Get your garden and bed soil tested.  Prepare the soil in your landscape beds with soil amendments such as lime and organic materials.  Prune boxwoods, hollies and other evergreen shrubs this month or early April. www.thegoodearthgarden.com

My hellebores are blooming For an beautifully and they always remind me of Verna Love. She Educational gave me my starts and she had Program! beautiful Lenten Roses in her

garden. I have thought of driv- Cathy and Rita went to the herb seminar in Jacksonport, They ing by her home to see if they expected to learn about growing herbs and using are still there. I don’t know if the garden is being kept up them. Instead, they learned how to use the essential oils or not. I looked up hellebores in Wikipedia.org and this extracted from the herbs. They made soap, lotion and two is what I found: Commonly known as hellebores salves. It was interesting and interactive. Everything smelled [2] the Eurasian genus Helleborus consists of approximate- so good and the arthritis cream really works. It was time well ly20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering spent and we would like to take more classes at Jacksonport. plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Despite names such as "winter rose",[3] "Christmas rose" and "Lenten rose", helle- PARTAY!!!! bores are not closely related to the rose family (Rosaceae). [4] Many hellebore species are poisonous. Hellebores are wide- ly grown in USDA Zone 5a to 8b gardens for decorative pur- poses. They are particularly valued by gardeners for their win- ter and early spring flowering period; the plants are surprising- ly frost-resistant and many are evergreen.[9] Also of value is their shade tolerance.[3] Many species of hellebore have green or greenish-purple flowers. The so-called ‘Christmas Rose’ is a garden favorite with white blossoms that fade to pink.The most popular hellebores for garden use are H. orientalis and its colour- ful hybrids (H. × hybridus). In the northern hemisphere, they flower in early spring, around the period of Lent, and are often known as Lenten hellebores, oriental hellebores, or Lenten roses. N. Barnett

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